Grace Wong

Reporter

Recent articles

Pets

DEVORE >> With his eyes bright, Joey, the two-legged Chihuahua, hopped eagerly behind Rodri Smith, 13, who welcomed the dog into her family Sunday. “It’s my first dog and I’m going to train him the best I can and make sure he has fun and have the best life,” Rodri said. • Video: Joey finds a new homeRodri’s father, Doug Smith, supervising animal control officer for...

Coping with grief

LOMA LINDA >> Stunned by the overwhelming response of 11 million views of him singing to his tiny, dying infant son on YouTube, Chris Picco expressed gratitude Friday for people’s support through a second song on his Facebook profile called “Shine Down” by his band, Castles in the Air, that he recorded in Australia in September...

Online video

A touching video of a Loma Linda dad singing to his dying infant son has gone viral on YouTube with almost 6 million views in two days.In the video, the tiny newborn boy, Lennon Picco, is bathed in an angelic white glow and wrapped from head to toe with blankets, blue tubes running alongside his body in an incubator. On the other side of the incubator’s glass, his dad, Chris Picco, plays the melancholy opening rift for the Beatles’ “Blackbird” on a guitar,...

Theft

Three Inland Empire residents were arrested Thursday morning in connection with a plot to steal more than $1 million in cash, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.Cesar Yanez, 37 of Fontana and Aldo Esquivel Vega, 28, of Pomona were arrested in Los Angeles by FBI agents and Los Angeles police officers. About $85,000 in cash was also found at Yanez’s home, according to the release.Jovita Medina Guzman, 39 of San Bernardino was...

LA County Fair

POMONA >> A small boy no more than 7 years old sat with his feet dangling at an outdoor table near a giant Ferris wheel. With his fingers clenched around a plastic fork, he stabbed at a giant brick of curly fries at least twice the size of his head with great gusto. Sunday was the last day of the Los Angeles County Fair, which easily boasted more than a million visitors over the month-long event, according to officials. “We’re very happy with this...

High School

CHINO HILLS >> Twenty-one Ayala High School football players have been suspended from school following an investigation into an alleged hazing incident that may have occurred last weekend when the team played in St. George, Utah, Chino Valley Unified School District officials said.The investigation is ongoing and the players will miss anywhere from one to five days of school, according to a statement from the Chino Valley Unified School District.“The safety of our...

Heat waves

The Inland Empire is notorious for high temperatures and this weekend, it’s proving itself to be guilty as charged as temperatures in many places exceeded 100 degrees.An excessive heat warning remained in effect Sunday until 7 p.m. Tuesday for the region, according to the National Weather Service. The hottest weather is expected to persist through Tuesday and then cool off slightly. As of 3 p.m. Sunday, emergency rooms at five Inland Empire hospitals — Pomona...

Protests and demonstrations

VICTORVILLE >> Benjamin Wood, 33, of Montclair pulled out more than 40 well-worn posters from his car trunk and began handing them out to people standing in front of the sheriff’s station on Wednesday evening. On them were slogans like “STOP Police Violence NOW” and “From Ferguson to Victorville END Police Murder!” A crowd was gathered there to protest the

Law enforcement agencies

VICTORVILLE >> The president of San Bernardino’s branch of the NAACP on Tuesday called for the federal government to take over the investigation into the death of a man who died in the custody of sheriff’s deputies after being stunned by a Taser several times, calling it a case of excessive police force.“This family should not be made to wait for justice,” said A. Majadi, president of the San Bernardino branch of the NAACP. “It should be swift,...

Immigration

A group of clergy is calling on the Inland Empire to welcome immigrant refugees and for political leaders to protect the refugees by allowing access to resources and protection under the law.In response to what they see as inactivity by Congress, the clergy caucus of Inland Congregations United for Change has published two open letters: one calling for action to help the refugees, the other defining the crisis as a humanitarian issue.“The fact that the immigrants are...